Actress Archita as ACP Sagarika (a forthcoming film) and actor Sabyasachi Mishra talk to school students about traffic rules during road safety week celebrations in Bhubaneswar on Friday. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 4: A dashing young policewoman caught the eye of commuters today outside traffic police station at AG Square.

Dressed as ACP Sagarika, the protagonist in her upcoming film, the cop in action was film star Archita.

The star was attending the road safety awareness week celebration to drive home the importance of following traffic rules, but Archita’s presence almost led to a traffic jam!

Archita is one of the celebrities that Cuttack-Bhubaneswar police have roped in for the road safety awareness week campaign. Actors Sabyasachi Mishra and Akash Das Nayak, singer Goodly Rath and a bunch of television artistes also took part in the drive.

The film and television personalities were present to launch the event that sought to create awareness among students. Distributing leaflets having messages on road safety at the AG Square, the stars told motorists and commuters about the benefits of following safety norms.

Students from various schools and colleges were visibly excited to see the actors and promised to follow traffic rules and inform their parents and elders about the positives of doing so.

Sources said a citizen traffic awareness committee had been formed that comprises representatives of automobile companies and petrol filling stations. The committee had joined the city police in organising the road safety week campaign that is held every year in the first week of January.

As part of the drive, additional commissioner of police Santosh Bala inaugurated a temporary park for kids behind the traffic police station so they could play there and learn the rules of the road.

“Our target is to educate students of different schools and colleges, as it will be helpful throughout their life. They can also spread further awareness among parents, relatives and friends,” said Bala.

The traffic park has a circular path on which several hurdles such as bumps, approaching side roads, railway level crossings, roadside hospitals, several turnings and schools have been depicted at regular intervals. Students will ride tricycles and follow road rules so that they learn about traffic regulations and safety precautions while they play, said a senior police officer.

Senior police officer Bala also launched a community on the popular social media Facebook and appealed to students to subscribe to it. The city police would post photos and status updates about road safety on this community and expected people to see, like and comment on these photos and posts.

“This will allow the public to participate in the activities. People can also post their comments and photos regarding road safety on this community and tag others. It will be the best media to create awareness about road safety,” said deputy commissioner of police Nitinjeet Singh.

The road safety celebrations will continue till January 7, and the temporary traffic park will be there for around a month. A song on traffic awareness, which had been recorded by the students of DPS Kalinga to the tune of popular jingle Honey Bunny was played. A documentary film on road safety was also screened.

Sand art installation showing Lord Ganesh urging people to wear helmets while driving was also on show along with photos and news clippings on road safety.

Officials said Bhubaneswar had seen around 190 deaths in road accidents in 2012 while it in 2011 and 2010 the corresponding figures were 185 deaths in 2011 and 190 respectively.

A traffic official said that till date more than eight lakh vehicles had been registered with the Road Transport Office, Bhubaneswar.

Additional commissioner of police Bala said because of shortage of manpower in the traffic wing, it was not possible for them to strictly enforce the rules. “We hope that awareness programmes such as this one will yield results and people will cooperate with us and stick to the norms,” he said.